Opposing pitchers on the wrong side of Blue Jays history

Looking back at the history of the Blue Jays franchise, numerous instances stick out for fans of all different ages and fandoms. The Jose Bautista bat flip, the Edwin Encarnacion Wild Card walk off, and of course, the Joe Carter World Series clincher.

There have been numerous big moments in Blue Jays history when it comes to players stepping up at the plate, but what about the pitchers who gave up those miraculous moments?

Charlie Leibrandt – Game Six, 1992 World Series

The franchise won their first-ever World Series in 1992 and did so against Atlanta Braves left-hander Charlie Leibrandt in extra innings in Game #6 of the 1992 World Series.

The veteran left-hander produced a clean tenth inning but was unable to keep runs off the scoreboard in the 11th. Leibrandt hit Devon White and gave up a single to Roberto Alomar before Dave Winfield, with two outs already on the board, produced a groundball down the left-field line that scored both White and Alomar, putting the Jays up by two in the top half of the inning.

The Jays pitching corps gave up one run in the 11th but after an Otis Nixon bunt and the subsequent throw from pitcher Mike Timlin to first, the World Series trophy was making its way North of the border for the first time in baseball history.

Leibrandt would earn the loss in that game and would only pitch one more season in the big leagues, finishing the 1993 season with the Texas Rangers before retiring. For his career, the southpaw amassed a 3.71 ERA through 394 outings (346 starts) with four different organizations, posting a 1.320 WHIP and a 4.4 K/9 rate through 2308.0 innings of work.

Ubaldo Jimenez – AL Wild Card 2016

In an exciting back and forth game during the 2016 AL Wild Card, the Blue Jays were trying to put together another playoff run after the “all in” 2015 season but were now under new management in general manager Ross Atkins and President/CEO Mark Shapiro.

At the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays hosted the Baltimore Orioles in a game that required extra innings under the dome, with each team heading into free baseball territory with two runs apiece. All was silent until the 11th inning, with Orioles pitcher Brian Duensing leading off the inning. He retired outfielder Ezequiel Carrera and was replaced with veteran Ubaldo Jimenez, with the right-hander giving up back-to-back singles before leaving a fastball over the plate for slugger Edwin Encarnacion, who promptly sent a no-doubter over the left-field wall and sent the Jays into the ALCS for a second consecutive season.

The biggest controversy out of this game was that Zach Britton, the Orioles closer, was kept on the sidelines even with the playoffs on the line. The Blue Jays didn’t complain, as Encarnacion played the hero and trotted around the bases with his signature right arm in the air for all to see.

After the Wild Card game, Jimenez spent one more season with Baltimore, posting 6.81 ERA through 31 appearances and never appeared in a Major League game after the 2017 campaign. He attempted a comeback in 2020 with the Colorado Rockies on a MiLB deal but was released by the club in mid-July and retired shortly after.

For his career, Jimenez finished with a 4.34 ERA through 329 outings, with the best years of his career coming with the Colorado Rockies in the mid-2000s. He made one All-Star appearance in 2010 and finished third in Cy Young voting that season.

Mitch Williams – Game Six World Series 1992

With the Blue Jays entering their second World Series in as many years, the club was facing a tough Philadelphia Phillies team that boasted a very strong pitching corps along with a solid batting order.

The series ultimately went to six games and came down the wire once again, with the Blue Jays entering Game Six with a chance to win it all in front of a home crowd (unlike the year prior). While this game did not go to extra innings like in 1992, it surely came down to the wire in the ninth inning, where the Jays batting order was able to put some runners in scoring position before Joe Carter hit one of the biggest home runs in franchise history.

Some of the biggest moments in Blue Jays history have come in extra innings or off a walk-off home run. Whatever happened to the opposing pitchers?

Phillies closer Mitch ‘Wild Thing’ Williams came into the ninth inning with a narrow 6-5 lead. The right-hander walked Rickey Henderson before getting Devon White to pop-up but allowed Paul Molitor to get on base with a single, putting runners on first and second. Carter was next to bat amongst the WAMCO lineup and put the ball over the left-field wall, scoring three runs and making the Blue Jays back-to-back World Series champions.

After the 1993 season, Williams struggled at the Major League level, sporting 7.65 and 6.75 ERA’s the following seasons with the Houston Astros (the Phillies traded him after the 1993 World Series) and California Angels respectively. His last season was in 1997 with the Kansas City Royals, where he appeared in only seven games and allowed eight earned runs through 6.2 innings.

Dennis Eckersley – Game 4 ALCS 1992

With the Toronto Blue Jays boasting one of the strongest teams in the American League, they met a solid competitor in the Oakland Athletics in the 1992 ALCS.

With the Blue Jays leading the series 2-1 heading into Game Four, the club looked to be in the weeds early, giving up five runs in the third inning and down by five heading into the eighth inning. Some solid hitting in the eight put three runs on the board but one of the more important Blue Jays hits was about to happen in the ninth against one of the toughest relievers in all of baseball.

The Athletics boasted one of the top closers in all of baseball in right-hander Dennis Eckersley. A fantastic shut-down pitcher, Eckersley actually won the Cy Young and AL MVP Award in 1992, finishing the year with a 1.91 ERA through 69 appearances with a Major League leading 51 saves.

Eckersley came into the ninth inning of Game 4 looking to finish out the Blue Jays but Roberto Alomar had different plans. After Devon White led off the inning with a single, Alomar put a fastball over the right-field wall to tie the ball game, sending it to the bottom of the ninth and ultimately to extra innings. From there, the Jays would eventually win the game in the 11th inning with Tom Henke finishing out the bottom half, with the club eventually taking home the series two games later. Before the Joe Carter home run, Alomar’s blast over the fence was regarded as one of the most important hits in franchise history (and to some it still is).

Eckersley pitched three more seasons in Oakland before finishing his career with stints in St. Louis and Boston. The right-hander finished his career with a 3.50 ERA through 1071 appearances (361 starts) and would amass 390 saves and 2401 strikeouts through 24 years in the MLB. The California product would win a World Series with the A’s in 1989 while also being named to six All-Star teams and eventually being elected to Cooperstown in 2004.

Matt Bush – Game 3 ALDS 2016

Meeting once again in the ALDS for a second consecutive postseason, the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers were not on good terms heading into this matchup. After the Bautista bat-flip and the bench-clearing brawl during the regular season, these two teams were meeting in the ALDS once again but with a bit of bad blood.

The Jays took a quick 2-0 lead in the series and were looking to finish off the Rangers at home. The game had a bit of a back and forth feel to it, with both clubs producing runs early and was tied at 6-6 after nine innings. Extras were needed and while the 10th inning produced nothing exciting, the Jays were able to put some runners in scoring position in the 11th to make things interesting.

On the bump was right-hander Matt Bush, who was entering the 11th on the heels of his third-inning out of the bullpen. Josh Donaldson started it off with a leadoff double which led to Bush intentionally walking Edwin Encarnacion to put runners on first and second. Jose Bautista struck out to put one out on the board with catcher Russell Martin up next. Martin hit a ground ball to shortstop and while Rougned Odor was able to get the out at second, his errant throw to first caused Mitch Moreland to come off the bag at first base. Donaldson continued on and was able to score in dramatic fashion at home plate, with Moreland’s throw short hopping the catcher. Rangers manager Jeff Banister threw a hail mary review call out but umpire Joe West, making one of the better translations for the decision made in New York, called Donaldson safe at home and the series was over.

While Odor is the main reason the Rangers lost the game because of his errant throw, Bush walked away with the loss. The Rangers right-hander was actually part of the Jays organization back in 2009 but never appeared in a Major League game, with the club releasing him roughly two months after being traded to Toronto due to off-the-field issues. He signed with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010 and was in their organization until 2012 before being arrested for drunk driving and running over a man behind the wheel, eventually serving time behind bars.

After being released, Bush joined the Rangers two months later in late 2015 and spent the next three seasons with the club before undergoing two Tommy John surgeries in 2018 and 2019. He most recently pitched with Texas last season, posting a 6.75 ERA through four outings with the club. Bush is currently a free agent.